Department of Sociology

The focus of my research interests is on the sociology and demography of ethnic populations, historically and comparatively, with an emphasis on family and immigration. I am continuing my research on ethnicity and religion in the Middle East, with specific attention to the State of Israel. I am also expanding my research on ethnic patterns of young adults of immigrant origins in Sweden. A major research project jointly with some former graduate students examines Muslim populations in comparative perspective exploring the contexts that result in greater and lesser openness to western and modern influences. Through the detailed examination of a biography, I am completing a qualitative study that parallels my previous study of the transformation of the Jews in Europe, Israel and the United States. A new project explores the conception and construction of stratification, exclusion, and inequality as they emerge in a 3rd century text, the Mishnah.